steve is like in miami with this story. steve, is this really a legitimate election? >>reporter: it is very tough to tell based on polls inside venezuela. they do have a sophisticated voting system and the number of outside analysts say it will be a fair election. the question is, if one person does hold all the power as chavez does, he controls the media and the courts, he controls billions in oil money, can they have a fair democratic election? it is clear this will be a test for chavez, perhaps the first different in his 14 years of rule inside venezuela. he has had a number of things that have brought him down in the polls: high inflation, the highest murder rates, electric power outages. he is still enjoying strong support from the poor and he subsidizes housings and that gives him support. he has battled cancer the past year, but now he says he is cancer free. this time around he has a young, energetic opponent and he is 40 years old, a firm governor who has crisscrossed the country giving chavez the first fight in 14 years. in southern florida we have seen thou